Dangerously Genre Savvy
by Stills and Photographs
Summary: Riven asks Bloom for help with his homework, but he really needs some advice. Girl advice. You see, there's this girl. She's fiery and he can't get her out of his head, and he needs to know how to tell her he's crazy about her.
1. Dangerously Genre Savvy

**Summary:** Riven asks Bloom for help with his homework, but he really needs some advice. Girl advice. You see, there's this girl. She's fiery and he can't get her out of his head, and he needs to know how to tell her he's crazy about her.

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**Disclaimer: **I do not own Winx Club.

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**Author's Note:** Notes on all of my stories can be found on my homepage, StillsAndPhotographs(dot)webs(dot)com.

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**Dangerously Genre Savvy**

_Ring, ring, ring._ Bloom pressed the "Talk" button on her cell phone and held it to her ear with her shoulder. She was lying on her bed, propped up on her elbows, reading her Magiophilosophy textbook. "Hello?"

"Hey, Bloom, it's Riven."

The red-haired fairy sat upright, her Philosophy homework happily forgotten. She registered a strange humming in her veins that she usually associated with battles as she answered. "Hey, Riven, what's up?"

"We just started a new chapter on definite integrals in Arithmancy class and I'm..." He struggled for the right words, trying to explain that while he did not need help, _per se_, the chapter would be much easier to understand if he, well, had help. Words failed him, and the sentence hung like a spiderweb in the air.

"Professor Klaus told us that the Alfean Arithmancy class was ahead of ours," he tried. The next sentence came out like the specialist had been asked to pull his own teeth. "So I was wondering if we could meet up and you could...clarify a few things for me."

Bloom already had her Arithmancy textbook out of her book-bag. "I'd be happy to help," she replied. "Where and when?"

Riven sighed. He thought the hard part would be over once he asked. "I don't know, what's good for you?" (He was trying to be gracious.)

Bloom chuckled to herself. It was so rare to see Riven forsake his pride and ask for help. Honestly, she was flattered. _I won't make this any more painful than it needs to be,_ she thought. "Is the Starlight Cafe, an hour from now, good with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine." He just wanted this embarrassment to be over as quickly as possible.

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Thanks," he said grudgingly.

Bloom hung up the phone and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror over her dresser. She groaned inwardly. It was Sunday, and she had lounged around the dorm in her pajamas all morning. She had an hour (minus fifteen minutes for travel) to make herself presentable. The fairy grabbed a towel and prayed that all of the showers weren't in use.

* * *

Riven couldn't help but notice that there were a lot of couples inhabiting the tables beneath the Starlight Cafe umbrellas. In fact, as he downed a cup of black coffee and waited for Bloom, he realized he was the _only_ unpaired patron on the cafe's outdoor patio.

He didn't have time to dwell on the observation as the red-haired girl he had been waiting for sat down beside him. The hemline of her denim skirt crept noticeably up her ivory thighs. Her hair was caught up in a blue jeweled clip that matched her eyes. She greeted him with a smile.

The waitress interrupted Riven's hello, refilling his cup. "Anything for your girl?" the blonde asked, pulling a notebook and pencil from her apron.

Riven blushed and mumbled, "She's_ not_ my girl." Bloom giggled and said she was all set, thanks.

"So what are you having trouble with?" The fairy scooted closer and peered at his work over his shoulder. The scent of lilacs and strawberries tickled his nose. He took a deep breath.

"I just need you to explain the First Fundamental Theorem of Arithmancy."

"Explain" was an understatement. He had completely misunderstood his professor during class, and Bloom had to reteach the theorem from the beginning. She guided him through a dozen practice problems until he could solve them without her help.

Riven pushed the textbook away from him with a sigh of exasperation, mixed with relief to finally be done. "Thank you, Bloom," he said, gruff but sincere.

"Don't mention it," she replied.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't," he said, affirming her suspicion that he never wanted to speak of this again.

But then he surprised her. "I... have another favor to ask."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"I need advice. Girl advice. Not that I can't handle it myself," he rushed to cast away any doubt that he really, truly needed anyone's help. "But since you're here - if anyone would know what to do, you would."

She was elated. It was as if Riven's tough exterior was coming down before her very eyes. The wall of ice he hid behind was starting to melt. "I'll do my best," she pledged, smiling encouragingly, trying to look the part of a confidant.

He hemmed and hawed. He thought asking for help with his math homework was hard, but it was nothing compared to articulating the words that had flitted about in his head for months, since the Day of the Rose many months ago. "There's...there's this girl," he finally forced out.

Bloom's heart soared. She had seen it a million times, in movies and television shows and books, and even a few times in real life! The boy asks his female friend for advice on talking to a girl he likes, and finally works up the courage to tell the friend that it was her all along; it was classic. She couldn't believe it! After months of wistful, half-abandoned fantasies about the moody, mysterious specialist, something had finally pierced his self-erected armor.

Trying hard not to squeal in delight, she replied as calmly as she could. "Who is she?"

But he wouldn't tell her that, not yet. "It's just some girl I know, and I...I really like her, Bloom. I just don't know how to tell her."

"Well," Bloom began carefully, "I know a lot of girls really admire when a guy has the courage to just come out and say it, instead of beating around the bush." _Maybe that will make this whole process a bit quicker!_ She congratulated herself on her tact.

"Well, I can't just blurt it out," he replied scathingly. "She's kind of...fiery, you know? And after the whole mess with Darcy, I think I really hurt her. It was such a betrayal, I'm surprised she even talks to me anymore." It was the smallest flicker in his features, replaced instantly with his casual facade, but the look of desperation that crossed his face nearly made her heart break.

"You were under a spell, Riven. No one blames you for it." She added softly, "I know I don't."

"I almost got her killed."

"_You_ didn't do anything. You were there when it counted."

The pair sat in silence for a moment. "You have to talk to her for me," Riven said. As if as an afterthought, he said, "Please?"

Bloom nodded, biting her lip. His confession...it was so close she could taste it!

"You need to tell her that I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry and...I hate myself for ever hurting her, and...and I would tell her all of this myself if she didn't scare the crap out of me," he laughed.

Bloom laughed, too. "Alright, to deliver the message I need to know who this girl is!"

His face grew deadly serious. "Bloom, I thought it was obvious."

_Here it comes...!_

"It's Musa. I'm crazy about her."

Bloom blinked a few times; the funny grin that comes after a laugh was still plastered on her face. "Oh."

But...but..._Musa_? The embarrassed way he had asked for Bloom's help, the way he stared at her legs when she sat down, the deep breath he took to calm himself when she leaned close to him, the vulnerability in his eyes telling her about the "fiery" girl...it all added up, but not to Musa!

"Oh, right. Musa," she forced another laugh. "Of course it was Musa. I was just fooling with you. All of us girls have been wondering when you would finally make your move."

"Is it that obvious?" he asked.

"Painfully," she replied. _Very painfully._

"So, you'll tell her what I said?"

"Yes. Of course I will." _Those words will follow me to the damn grave,_ Bloom thought venomously.

'Thank you so much, Bloom," Riven said, rising from the table. There was not a hint of irritation in his voice anymore. For the first time in all the time she had known him, Riven was unabashedly happy.

"It's no problem," Bloom said, following suit. "Don't mention it. It's what I'm here for." She hoped her voice sounded hearty and sincere and pleasant. She could feel shame and embarrassment burning on her cheeks and swallowed hard.

"I'll see you around then," Riven called over his shoulder as he mounted his levabike and sped off.

She waved until he was out of sight, and stood there entrenched in thought. She thought it should be raining – it was always raining when sad movies had scenes like this – "but the heavens did not fall for such trifles."

Then her phone rang again. It was a text.

_Hey beautiful - happy three month anniversary!  
Love__ Sky_

Bloom shoved the phone back into her pocket. His innocent expression of love just made her feel like worse. She trudged to the closest bus stop that would take her back to school. She hoped no one had noticed she was gone.

She kept waiting for it to rain.


	2. We Feel Like Rain

**Shout Outs: bloomofsparks7** and **Darev**

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**We Feel Like Rain**

Musa stood wordlessly, facing Bloom with her hands on her hips. The red-head set her jaw – the musical fairy was blocking her view of the television. "Is something wrong?"

"I just got a text from Riven."

The sentence hung in the air like some nebulous cloudburst of awkward. Bloom arranged her features into something that resembled curiosity. "Oh. What did it say?"

"He needs an Arithmancy tutor." She wanted to smack that carefully innocent look right off her friend's face. "He has a test tomorrow and has it on_ your_ word that I'm the top of our class." There wasn't exactly hostility in Musa's words, but there was an undercurrent of resentment in her tone that made the fire fairy wary.

"Well, you _are_ the top of our class," Bloom replied carefully.

"Why did you tell him that?" the blue-haired girl demanded.

"I didn't know it was a secret."

The blood hummed in Bloom's veins. Their voices were polite – cordial, but tight. It felt too much like a fight; the haze of tension between the two friends was painful. "He asked if I could tutor him, but Sky and I are celebrating our four-month anniversary tonight. So I recommended you. I hope that's okay?" (Bloom's faked sincerity seemed to do the trick.)

"No, no, it's fine," Musa sighed. The note of resentment in her voice was replaced by apprehension. "It just took me by surprise, is all. You and Sky have been together four months? Congratulations."

"Thanks."

There was a long pause.

"He really does need a tutor, you know," Bloom said finally.

Musa looked like she would rather skin a live dragon. "Fine, fine, I'll call him back," she huffed, stalking back to her dorm.

Bloom curled up on the couch like a cat and snuggled deep inside a fleece throw blanket. Even if he was the last person she wanted to see, she wished she really did have plans with Sky. Anything was better than being alone in the dorm that night.

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The heavens opened up, and sheets of rain hit the puddles in the ground with violent smacking sounds. Umbrellas held by those few unlucky people caught in the rain turned inside-out in the wind and became useless, flapping vinyl leaves in the storm.

The Starlight Café was a warm, cozy haven from the weather. Riven warmed his fingers around a steaming black coffee with a shot of espresso. He was sitting on a loveseat beside a stone fireplace. The roaring fire coaxed away the damp chill of the storm from his bones. He still shivered, but it was from nerves, not the cold.

Once again, Riven was the only unpaired patron of the Café, but not for long.

Musa shrugged off her jacket in the doorway and hung it on a peg. She spotted Riven by the fire and hesitated noticeably, but joined him on the sofa a moment later. "Hi," she said quietly, not quite looking him in the eye.

He magenta-haired specialist carefully pushed an overflowing ceramic coffee mug and saucer toward her. "Consider this my thank you," he said gruffly. "White hot chocolate with raspberry. I wasn't sure what you liked, so I took a shot in the dark. I hope it's good." _I hope she's as nervous as I am_, he thought.

Musa took a sip. It was warm and sweet, chocolate and fruity. She loved it. "It's good. Thanks. So, uh…Arithmancy test, that's why we're here, right?"

_More or less…_ "Yeah. Tell me that you understand integration by parts?" He would need the lesson to steel his nerves – his fingers were still trembling. He blamed the cold when Musa noticed how his pencil quivered.

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"You know what you have to do, you just can't rush into it, you know?" You can do the calculus, but it won't mean a thing if you do the algebra wrong." The fairy was interrupted by the sound of charms from her pocket. "One sec, I gotta take this. Hey, Sky, what's up?" she asked, putting the cell phone to her ear.

"Isn't she with you?...She told me you guys were going out tonight for your four-month…Well, I have no idea why she wouldn't answer." A curiously out-of-place flicker of relief showed across her face. "I'll go back to the dorm right now and see if she's there. I'll call you back."

Riven admired the milk-white cirve of her neck, sloping gently down to rounded shoulders. Her face in profile was beautiful, with her upturned nose and almond-shaped eyes. The corner of her mouth sagged downward, and he found himself rapidly brainstorming ideas to turn it around.

Musa was on her feet before she clicked her phone off. "We're done here, right? Bloom lied about her plans tonight and isn't answering her cell. I need to get back to the dorm to see if she's there and if she's okay." She donned her coat as she spoke and was out the door without so much as a goodbye.

Riven felt blindsided – daydreaming about Musa's smile, he had missed the whole conversation. He jumped to his feet, abandoning his belongings on the coffee table to race after the blue-haired fairy.

"Musa! Wait!" he shouted over the noise of the rain.

She turned around, blinking away the water streaming into her eyes. "Riven, what do you want?"

"I want to talk to you! I thought you came because you wanted to talk to me, too!"

"I came because you needed an Arithmancy tutor!"

They were face-to-face, already drenched, shouting to make themselves heard. Riven cast around quickly and dragged Musa beneath the awning of a small pastry shop, out of the rain. She reflexively pulled her hands out of his grasp.

"Bloom didn't talk to you, did she?"

"Talk to me about what?" she demanded, exasperated.

A pause. "About…me."

Her patience was wearing thin. _"What about you?"_

He pressed his palms together, exhaled deeply. "God, Muse, are you blind? I think I might really like you!"

She crossed her arms, defensive. Her eyes were hard. "Darcy's still in your head, Riv."

"No. No. I'm still going batshit but she's not the one in my head anymore. I worry about you, I think about you. I wonder what you do and what you say. It's you."

"Yeah, well, whatever scam you're trying to sell, I'm not buying. I'll see you around." She turned away.

All he knew was that he wouldn't let her go. He grabbed her arm and spun her back around, their eyes locking for the first time that night. Musa blushed scarlet, and fiercely pushed him away. "You know what? You had your chance. You chose a witch instead, and look what happened – she broke your heart, what a surprise! Deal with it."

"Shut—"

Musa just cut across him. "Now I'm going to leave, and if you grab me again, I'm calling the cops."

They were on Main Street – it wasn't like he could block her path, and this whirlwind romance wasn't exactly worth an assault and battery charge. So he just watched her walk away.

He decided she wasn't worth a vandalism charge, either, and so resisted the urge to smash the ceramic coffee mug and the table she left it on. He threw his Arithmancy book into the fireplace and didn't leave the barista a tip and walked his levabike back to Red Fountain in the rain.

**To be continued…**


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